Pumpkin Bars (Grain-free and Refined Sugar-free)
A few weeks ago, I was hungry for dessert and noticed I had multiple cans of pumpkin puree in my cupboard. What was the logical solution? It was to make pumpkin bars, of course! The bars themselves are not overly sweet, but the frosting is quite sweet which I think creates a nice combination. Please, feel free though to reduce the amount of sweetener in either or both to your liking!
See the recipe at my guest post for The Nourishing Gourmet here.
Where I Buy Ingredients…and Information on Coconut Oil
I have often received emails with questions on where I buy my ingredients. Hopefully this post will help answer those questions. I love sales, especially the clearance racks and watch for food items to go on sale. I don’t like to spend a lot of money on things. When we switched to Paleo, it almost killed me to pay $8.00 for a pound of coconut flour and some exorbitant amount for a small jar of coconut oil. I absolutely refused to even try almond flour as it was well over $10 a pound. And then there is raw honey–which is another not-so-cheap ingredient in unrefined baking. It was clear I was going to have to do something different than buying all these things at the health food store.
To begin with, we belong to a co-op called Azure Standard. I am not positive, but I think that they deliver all over the country. There are requirements for how much is ordered in the group (around $500) and individually you need to spend $50 or more in order for them to send the shipment. They sell a lot of items in bulk and their prices are typically fantastic. These are some of the things I order from Azure Standard and the approximate price I pay (but prices change all the time).
Azure Standard Products
-Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour ($22.00 for a 5 pound bag = $4.40/lb.)
-Coconut Secret Coconut Flour ($24.00 for a 5 pound bag =$4.80/lb.)
-Organic, Unsweetened Shredded Coconut ($15.00 for a 5 pound bag = $3.00/lb.)
-Thai Organic Coconut Milk (canned) ($27.50 for 12 – 14 oz. cans = $2.29/can)
-Coconut Secret Raw, Organic Coconut Aminos (I use this as a soy sauce substitute) ($4.50 for 8 oz.)
-Earth Circle Organics Raw Cacao Powder (raw cacao is much more beneficial to you than cocoa) ($12.00/lb.)
-Cashews, Raw, Small Pieces (in most of my cooking I chop them up so this works for me) ($20 for a 5 pound bag = $4.00/lb.)
-Cashews, Raw, Whole ($40.00 for a 5 pound bag = $8.00/lb.)
-Sunflower Seeds, Raw, Organic ($10 for a 5 pound bag = $2.00/lb.)
I also buy a lot of things at Costco. If you have one of those close to you, you might be surprised how much they carry that you can eat. There is a yearly membership fee like Sam’s Club, but we find for our family it is definitely worth it. Costco product selection varies from store to store, so no guarantees your store will carry these things.
Costco Products
-Almonds (unsalted, unroasted) ($10 for a 3 pound bag = $3.33/lb.)
-Sunmaid Organic Raisins ($8.00 for 2 pounds = $4.00/lb.)
-Walnuts (unsalted, unroasted) ($15.00 for 5 pounds = $3.00/lb.)
-Organic Fuji Apples (price changes depending on the season but is usually around $1.50/lb.)
-Organic Baby Spinach (couple bucks for a big, 1 pound container)
-Bananas (price varies, but cheaper than our grocery stores)
-Vanilla (16 ounces for appr. $6.00)
-Maranatha Roasted Almond Butter, Smooth (26 ounce jar for appr. $6.00)
-Butter (currently $8.00 for 4 pounds = $2.00/lb. — pastured, organic butter would be much better for you though)
-Eggs (currently $8.00 for 5 dozen = $1.60/dozen — again, farm fresh organic would be better for you)
-Kirkland Maple Syrup (pure, Grade A) (32 ounces for appr. $14.00)
Coconut Oil Info
Most of the ingredients I buy come from one of the two places mentioned above. Coconut oil, however, has been an interesting research project and trial. I first started with a small jar that was really expensive from our local grocery store. Then, I went in with a few other ladies on a 5 gallon bucket from some company that we split (but was inconvenient for the lady who received it to try and divide it evenly). Then, I ordered 1 gallon from a company that Azure Standard sells. It didn’t have a lot of information on it, but said it was raw, cold-pressed and organic so I thought it must be good. At this time I started to learn about what to look for in a coconut oil. This [lengthy] article on coconut oil by Dr. Mercola states the things you should look for when choosing a coconut oil. In a nutshell, these are the things to look for:
1. USDA Certified
2. Unrefined
3. No chemicals added
4. Unbleached
5. Undeodorized
6. Not hydrogenated
7. Not GMO (genetically modified) or hybrid coconuts
8. Made from FRESH coconuts, not dried coconuts (used in cheap coconut oils)
9. Not processed with heat
Mercola’s website sells a good brand for $65.45 a gallon (currently the sale price), Tropical Traditions also has a good coconut oil for $65.00 a gallon (currently, through March 15th), and then there is the brand that I use: Nutiva–which is currently selling their organic, extra-virgin coconut oil at $59.99 a gallon (this also is on sale). Since I ordered my first gallon of Organic, Extra-Virgin Nutiva Coconut Oil, the price has increased slightly, but the “one-gallon price” has always been on sale. That is not to say that it will always be on sale, but I liked that it wasn’t just a “one-week deal” or anything.
Nutiva also offers FREE shipping on orders over $30.00, so if you like to buy in bulk like me, that just tops off the cake! I became an affiliate of their company soon afterwards because I love their coconut oil and love their prices! Their coconut oil meets Dr. Mercola’s standards and their price is even cheaper than Azure Standard sells Nutiva Coconut Oil for (surprisingly!) So, if you do decide to order from Nutiva, I’d love it if you wanted to go through my link. I do get a small compensation from Nutiva if you do decide to order through my link.
Just a little more on coconut oil…when I mentioned before that I had bought a brand of coconut oil that was raw, cold-pressed and organic…it was, but I found out after calling the company that it came from dried copra instead of fresh coconuts. The next coconut oil I ordered was Nutiva. When I received it, I could actually smell a difference between the two. The Nutiva brand smelled fresher to me! (Granted, I do have a super-strong nose…and it is even more sensitive being pregnant…)
Raw Honey
It is very beneficial to your health if you can find local, raw honey. I have heard that it helps with allergies other things if you can buy locally. This may take some research for you to find. If you do find a good supplier though, it is well-worth it. Raw honey can range anywhere from $2.00 a pound (the cheapest I’ve ever seen it) up to $5.00 a pound (and probably higher)! I buy honey in one gallon containers to save money.
Grass-Fed Beef
Grass-Fed Beef is a great thing to find locally. We found someone who raises his beef grass-fed and doesn’t use hormones or antibiotics on them. It is basically organic without being “certified” which costs farmers an arm and a leg to do so. If you can afford to buy 1/2 beef, that is probably going to be your best price. We split a half-beef between 3 families…and I don’t think it will last our family too long…
Other Products
I buy produce when it is on sale at our grocery store or at Costco. Our Costco carries a lot of organic produce which is fantastic! And I actually buy sweet potatoes and yams )non-organic) at Wal-Mart…they are almost half of the price of our grocery stores. I buy Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Chips at Wal-Mart as well.
Hopefully this information has been helpful to you. If you don’t have a Costco or something similar nearby that you can buy in bulk from, check around to see what is close to you. I’ve heard that “Whole Foods” is a great store to buy organic products, but we do not have one here. Let me know if you have further questions or suggestions to other places that you buy your ingredients!
No-Bake Cookies (Paleo)
No-bake cookies are a quick and easy dessert usually consisting of oatmeal and refined sugar. This recipe uses coconut as the “main” ingredient and uses honey instead of granulated sugar. The cookies don’t set-up quite as fast as traditional no-bakes, but are still a tasty treat!
N0-Bake Cookies
Ingredients:
1/3 cup honey (you can probably reduce the amount of honey even more)
1 1/2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/3 cup coconut oil or butter
1/3 cup almond butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups dried, unsweetened coconut
Directions:
1. Put honey, cocoa, and coconut oil (or butter) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and immediately remove from heat.
3. Stir in the almond butter and vanilla until it is incorporated.
4. Stir in coconut.
5. Scoop by spoonfuls unto wax paper or parchment paper and put in the fridge until hardened and set.
*Store at room temperature or the fridge. I prefer the texture of the cookies out of the fridge.
Grasshopper Pie (Grain-free, Dairy-free!!)
This was our Valentine’s Day Dessert this year! It isn’t as simple as opening a box of ice cream and a package of oreos, but this way it is grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free! It combines a few different recipes that I’ve already posted.
Grasshopper Pie
Ingredients:
2-3 cups prepared Mint-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (we used 3 cups, but this is more than one recipe of the ice cream…)
3/4 cup almond flour
3/4 cup almonds, finely chopped
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup raw honey
3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted (or butter)
3 Tbsp. cocoa or cacao
Coconut Whipped Cream and/or melted chocolate chips for garnish
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine almond flour, almonds, salt, honey, butter and cocoa in a bowl.
3. Press into a 9″ pie plate.
4. Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
5. Cool completely and place in freezer.
6. If your ice cream is already prepared and in the freezer, let it stand at room temperature until you can scoop and spread it fairly easily. Fill frozen pie shell with softened ice cream and place back into freezer to firm up. (If you prepare your ice cream after making the crust, you can pour it right into the crust from the ice cream maker.)
7. (Optional) Decorate pie with prepared coconut whipped cream and/or melted chocolate. Place back in the freezer until ready to serve! Remove pie from freezer for a few minutes before cutting and serving.
*I have only made this recipe once, and even though we loved it, we did have a bit of trouble with the crust coming apart from the ice cream section…if anyone has any tips that would help that, let me know!
Shared on Allergy-Free Wednesdays and Proverbs 31 Thursdays Link-Up!
Hungarian Hortobagy Pancakes (thin pancakes with meat filling and sauce)
I made these one night after I had a pregnancy craving for them. I haven’t had them since I was in Hungary nine years ago, but I never forgot their delicious taste! I have fond memories of the family I ate these with and the sweet lady who made them for my team and I. Unfortunately for me, the original recipe contains flour, sour cream and milk…but I was able to come up with substitutions and I will be making them again! I hope you enjoy this main dish!
Hungarian Hortobagy Pancakes (thin pancakes with meat filling and sauce)
Pancake Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot
1 1/3 cup almond milk
8 eggs
2 tsp. coconut oil or butter, melted
1/2 tsp. salt
(extra oil or butter for greasing pan)
Pancake Directions:
1. Combine above ingredients in a blender and blend until just combined.
2. Preheat a 10″ skillet on medium heat.
3. Lightly grease pan with coconut oil or butter.
4. Put 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup batter in skillet.
5. Once pancake is set, use a square turner to flip pancake and cook briefly on the other side.
6. Set pancakes aside.
*Makes 11 pancakes.
Filling Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts, cubed (I’ve heard pork is a great filling as well!)
1/2 onion
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Filling Directions:
1. Finely chop onion. Cook in a skillet with oil until transparent.
2. Add chicken, paprika, salt, and pepper.
3. Cook until tender and chicken is cooked through.
4. Remove chicken and onions from heat (I use a mesh strainer to separate juices).
5. Put juices back into pan.
6. Shred the chicken.
Sauce Ingredients:
Juices from cooking chicken/onion
1 cup coconut milk (canned)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. arrowroot
Sauce Directions:
1. Combine coconut milk and lemon juice in a small bowl. Let sit 5 minutes. (This is our sour cream substitute.)
2. Thicken the juices in the pan with arrowroot and 2 Tbsp. of the coconut milk/lemon juice mixture.
3. Bring juice to boil and then add the rest of the coconut cream/lemon juice mixture to it. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes or until sauce is heated through.
Assembly of Pancakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put 2 Tbsp. of the sauce into the chicken/onion mixture.
3. Spread chicken mixture on pancakes. Fold up.
4. Put (8) rolled up pancakes in a 9×9 baking dish and pour sauce over the top of the pancakes. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until sauce is bubbling. (You will have 3 leftover pancakes…save these for fruit and coconut whipped cream for dessert later!)
*To roll-up the filled pancakes, I just folded in two opposite sides and then folded the other two sides in and laid them in the pan, folds down.
Flatbread (Paleo-Scandinavian Version)
Haha, Paleo-Scandinavian…this phrase is like an oxymoron! BUT, I am Scandinavian and LOVE my Grandma’s whole wheat/oatmeal flatbread recipe…so I ventured to make my own…without oatmeal or whole wheat. I am happy to say that the end result satisfied my craving for flatbread! I think there are lots of versions and variations of flatbread, so I apologize if this is not what you were thinking it is. This version is thin and fairly crispy. We love it topped with butter and honey-sweetened strawberry freezer jam, but you can put whatever you want on it! Enjoy!
Flatbread (Paleo-Scandinavian Version)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup almond pulp flour (I dry my leftover almond pulp from making Homemade Almond Milk on a baking pan at 250 degrees until dried out. Then I put it in a blender or food processor to break up the clumps and make it more of a flour-consistency.) *NOTE: Almond flour does NOT work the same.
2 Tbsp arrowroot
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. softened butter
3 Tbsp. coconut oil, soft
1 1/2 Tbsp. honey
(extra arrowroot if needed)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix almond pulp flour, arrowroot and salt in a bowl.
3. Combine almond milk and lemon juice in a small bowl and let sit 1-2 minutes.
4. Add almond milk mixture, butter, coconut oil and honey to dry ingredients and mix well with a hand mixer.
5. Thinly, roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper. You may need to add more arrowroot if the dough it too sticky. (I rolled mine to a thickness of about 1/8″ or less–the thinner you make it the crispier it will be.)
6. Cut into desired sizes with a pizza cutter or pastry cutter. (Mine range in sizes from 4″ x 3″ to 3″ x 2″.)
7. Using a metal spatula, carefully lift pieces of flatbread and place on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes or until edges start to brown. (Time will vary depending on how thick you make your flatbread.)
9. Remove from baking sheet to a cooling rack to cool. Top with butter and whatever else you like and enjoy!
Almond Butter Cookie Cups
Finally! A recipe I am going to put in the “Christmas Goodies” category! So…these are bit time-consuming, as so many things are with paleo if you are going to try to avoid refined sugars and such–but, we voted the end result was worth it! They are messy as the chocolate doesn’t seem to harden up like typical “candy”, but still tasty. Basically, I’ve combined my Almond Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with the Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups recipe, made a few minor changes and this is the end result.
Almond Butter Cookie Cups
Ingredients:
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. coconut oil
2/3 cup almond butter
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. arrowroot
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup almond butter
1/3 cup honey
1 egg
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. flaxseed meal
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut
Directions:
*Disclaimer: I have two different sized “mini-muffin pans”. I used the smaller of the two for the candy cups and the bigger of the two for the cookies so the cups would fit in them…I have not figured out a good way to do this if you don’t have two different sized pans…sorry.
1. Line [smaller] mini-muffin pan with 24 mini-muffin paper liners.
2. Melt unsweetened chocolate, honey and coconut oil in a double-boiler over low heat.
3. Using a spoon or pastry brush, coat bottom (and sides if you can) of paper liners with melted chocolate. Place pan in fridge.
4. Combine 2/3 cup almond butter, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2 Tbsp. honey, 2 Tbsp. arrowroot and 1 tsp. vanilla in a small bowl.
5. Once chocolate has hardened, spoon almond butter mixture over the bottom of each cup.
6. Top with more of the melted chocolate. Place pan back in fridge to harden. Once hardened, remove cups from pan and remove papers from candies. Place candies in fridge or freezer until cookies are ready.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8. Combine last section of ingredients and mix well. Scoop dough evenly among 24 greased [larger mini-muffin pan] cups.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 7-9 minutes or until edges are starting to brown.
10. Remove pan from oven and immediately press one chocolate almond butter cup into each cookie (press down). Let cool completely in pan, remove from pan and enjoy!
*Notes: The chocolate doesn’t seem to harden up like a typical candy. If you use my other recipe for Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Cups using dark chocolate chips, it should harden up more in the fridge. I was trying to figure out a way to make a chocolate that didn’t contain soy lecithin and refined sugar…hence the unsweetened chocolate. Let me know which way you try and if you like it!
Banana Bread
I read somewhere that you can substitute half arrowroot and half coconut flour for regular flour and then add more eggs…so keeping that in mind, I found a regular banana bread recipe, converted it to coconut flour and arrowroot, substituted honey for the sugar and added extra eggs (I’ve heard 4 eggs per 1 cup coconut flour). And…this was the end result!
Banana Bread
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 2 1/2 bananas)
5 eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil (melted)
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup arrowroot
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease one 9×5 bread pan.
2. Put mashed bananas, eggs, applesauce, butter or oil, honey and vanilla in a large bowl and mix well.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour batter into prepared bread pan and bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 20-25 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.
Raisin Nut Crunch Cereal
Finally! A cereal-substitute we like that reminds us of cereal!! The recipe I based this one off of is from Civilized Caveman and is found here. Thanks for the great recipe, Civilized Caveman!
Raisin Nut Crunch Cereal
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp. squash seeds (or more pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup almond meal (I used dried almond pulp from making almond milk)
1 1/3 cup coconut
1 cup almonds, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup raisins (added after cereal is baked)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine all dry ingredients (except raisins).
3. Warm coconut oil and honey slightly so they are easily incorporated. Pour oil, honey and vanilla over dry ingredients. Mix well
4. Spread cereal mixture over large baking pan (15 x 10 or bigger) and bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Take out of oven, stir mixture and bake for another 5-7 minutes.
5. Cool. Add raisins and serve with homemade coconut milk or homemade almond milk! Store in an airtight container.
Pumpkin Streusel Pie
I love baking in the fall! The smells of apples, pumpkin and cinnamon are so warm and welcoming! Before I switched to being grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar-free, my favorite pumpkin pie was one that had a streusel topping. One of my favorite things to do is taking recipes that I used to eat and recreating them so I can still enjoy them! Pumpkin Streusel Pie is one of those recipes. Enjoy!
To view the recipe, see my guest post for The Nourishing Gourmet here.